Coupling for railway steam-heating pipes



2 Sheets--Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

R. I. HAMPTON. GOUPLING POR RAILWAY STEAM HEATING PIPB'S; No. 422,208.

Patented Peb. 25, 1890..

N W Se f bek.

V(No M0261.) 2 sheetssheet .2.

R. I. HAMPTON. GOUPLING POR RAILWAY STEAM HEATING PIPBS.

No. 422,208. 'Patented 11610.25. 1890.

N. PETERS. hawumgmphw, washingm n. c4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT I. HAMPTON, OF ATHENS, GEORGIA.

COUPLING FOR RAILWAY STEAM-HEATING PIPES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 422,208, dated February 25, 1890. Application filed June 25, 1889. Serial No. 315,483. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT I. HAMPTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Athens, in the county of Clarke and State of Georgia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Couplings for Railway Steam- Heating Pipes, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to couplings for the pipes employed upon railway-trains for conveying a heating medium through the interiors and for the brake-hose and the pipes by which the conductors signals are transmitted to the engineer when the latter are used.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide a coupling section or head in which the separate channels communicating with the trainpipes shall be assembled with a definite and fixed relation vand position one to another, whereby the individual channels therein shall make accurate communication with the corresponding channels orpassages of the other section without requiring the attention or manipulation of the train-hand who couples the cars.

To these ends the invention consists inthe novel features of construction and new combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to make, construct, and use the said inventi0n, I will now describe the same in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichM Figure l is a side elevationwith one of the coupling-sections and a fractional part of the other in vertical section, the section being taken on the plane .fr no, Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. l, a part thereof being shown in horizontal section. Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of t-he coupling sections or heads, taken from the forward end. Fig. 4E is an elevation of the same, taken from the rearward end. Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation showing a modified construction. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5, taken from the rear end. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same, partly in section. Fig.. 8 is a detail elevation of one of the adjusting devices, showing the construction whereby it is automatically locked at any point to which it is adjusted.

In the said drawings I have shown only the coupling sections or heads and their immediate adjuncts without illustrating any portion of the car; but it should be understood that the bearings or supports for the coupling-sec tions may be mounted directly upon the bottom of the carplatform; or they may be attached to the car-coupler when the construction of the latter is such as to permit. n

In the drawings, therefore, the referencenumeral l designates any part of the car or car-coupler, to which is attached a depending bracket 2, having a circular opening 3 and provided upon its rear face with a concave seat or socket, which receivesahemispherical enlargement 4, formed upon the coupling section or head 5, which projects through the opening 3, the diameter of the latter being such as to permit the coupling-head to turn freely in any direction through an. arc of twenty or thirty degrees or more without striking the edge of the opening.

Upon the hemispherical projection 4, at or near its polar points, are placed two studs G, which lie in elongated slots 7, formed in the upper and lower parts of the bracket 2. These studs form the pivots upon which the horizontal movements of the coupling-head are made, and they also permit the vertical movements by their play in the slots 7, which limit said movements and prevent the coupling head from rotating upon its own axis;

The coupling-head projects somewhat in rear of the hemispherical projection et, and immediately in rear of the studs 6 this projection is cut down to the diameterof the head, thereby forming an annular shoulder 8. Directly in rear of the coupling-head is arranged a fork or yoke 9, mounted upon a spindle l0, supported at its end by a dropbracket 12, in the manner hereinafter to be described. The branches of the fork or yoke 9 lie in a substantially vertical plane and their extremities enter notches or recesses 13 in the shoulder S. Upon each branch near its end. is rigidly mounted a cross-head le, which abuts against the flat face of the shoulder 8, said contact being preserved by an equaliz` ing or centering spring 15, coiled upon the IOO spindle 10, .and pushing the fork or yoke 9 toward thebracket 2. Upon the rearward end of the spindle 10 is loosely mounted a disk 16, having a convex rearward face which fits a concave seat on the drop-bracket 12. The end of the spindle is carried through the disk 16 and lies in a vertical slot 17, formed in the drop-bracket. In the rearward convex face of the disk 16 is formed a spiral slot 18, Fig. 3, which receives a stud 19, projecting from the drop-bracket. rlhe bottom 'of this slot is provided with a series of teeth or corrugations 20, which engage the stud 19,but are enabled to pass over the same by the yield of the spring 15, which bears against the face of the disk 16. Radially-projecting handles 21 may be formedor mounted on the disk 16 to facilitate its revolution.

Upon the forwardly-projecting end of each coupling-head is mounted a coupling-sleeve 22, provided with two opposite curved plates 23 and 24, which project beyond the end of thevcoupling-head. One of these plates 23 is mounted upon a ring 25, and is provided with a cam-groove 26, formed upon its interior curved face, while the other plate is mounted upon said ring at a point nearer the axis of the coupling-head, and. is provided upon its outside convex face with a cam-groove 27, cut at an angle corresponding with that of the cam-groove 26. A guard-plate 2,8 partly overhangs the cam-groove 27 or may extend entirely over the same.

The sleeve upon each section or head is so formed as to revolve freely thereon, and is prevented from separating therefrom by segmental lugs or blocks 29, mounted upon opposite sides of each coupling section orhead and provided with alternating seats 30 and guides 3],which engage with a guide and seat of like construction upon the other coupling-head. The sleeve 22 lies just behind these segmental lugs 29, and vis provided at two opposite points with recesses or openings 32 of such size as to admit these lugs when the sleeve is drawn forward. In the rearward edge of each lsleeve is formed a recess 33, having at one end an inclined or angular portion 34, these parts being so located that upon revolving the sleeve upon the coupling-head the inclined edge 34 reaches a stud or camblock 35, rigid upon the coupling, just at or about at the moment the recesses or openings 32 register with the segmental lugs 29. The inclined edge 34, riding upon the camblock 35, projects the sleeve forward stifliciently t'o cause the lugs 29 to enter or partly enter the recesses 32 in the sleeve or in its ring, and until the sleeve is retracted it cannot rotate upon the coupling-head. A leverarm 36 may be, and preferably is, mounted upon each sleeve and provided with a weighted extremity 37, whereby rotation is produced automatically whenever either sleeve is retracted or sufficiently drawn back on its coupling-head to remove the lugs 29 from the recesses 32. In order to prevent the sleeve from slipping off the coupling-head a pin 38 is passed through the ring 25 to lie behind the lugs 29 when the latter register with the recesses 32, the pin being set back far enough to allow the said lugs to partly enter the recesses, for a purpose presently to v,be described.

ring is formed a detent 4 2, abutting upon one edge of the said notch or recess.

The forward portion of the coupling-head is divided by horizontal partition-walls 43 into two separate channels or passages 44, lying upon each side of the central partition, and

two additional channels 45, one above and the other below the passages 44. As these channels pass to the rear of the coupling-head, they assume a cylindrical form and emerge at the rear end in four tubular passages, two of which lie in a vertical and two in a horizontal plane. The live steam and dead steam or return steam from the heating apparatus finds passage in the two channels 44, while the air or steam` for the brakes and the conductors signals iiows through the channels 45. At the rearward end of each channel I locate a puppet-valve 46, carried by a stem 47, which lies in the channel closed by said valve, and has its end projecting from the front of the coupling-head, where it lies in a keeper or guide-lug 43, in front of which it projects far enough so that when the connectinghead is brought into coupling engagement the stem will be driven back far enough to unseatthe valve. Upon the rearward end of each channel are mounted inclined guideways 49, up which the valve rides as it is unseated, and down which it slides by gravity as the coupling-heads separate to close the passage. Any other form of automatic device may be substituted, however, such as a common spiral spring acting upon the stem.

In the upper and lower partition-walls 43, which inclose the channels for the steam or other heating medium, Iform spaces 50, which may be .dead-air chambers or be filled with any suitable non-conducting material. Similar spaces or chambers 51 may also be formed between the cylindrical wall of the couplinghead and the inner walls 51 of the said steampassages. These spaces are continuous, save as interrupted by pillars 51EL to strengthen the walls.

The operation of the coupling is as follows: The disks 16 being operated to raise or lower the spindle 10 and bring the forward ends of the coupling-heads to the same height to enable them to engage, the sleeve on one of said heads is partly rotated-until the inclined edge 34 strikes the cam-block 35 and throws IOO the sleeve forward until the segmental lugs 29 enter the recesses 32. The c ouplingheads are now brought together, the plate 23 upon one entering the space between the similar plate 23 and the plate 24 upon the other sleeve. When the sleeve is set or adjusted for coupling in the manner described, the extent of the recess 32 permits a slight retrograde revolution upon the coupling-head, whereby the projecting detent 39 on the plate 23 will strike the detent 4:2 on the ring 25, thereby pushing the sleeve set for coupling backward until it is entirely disengaged from the blocks or lugs 29, whereupon the weighted lever causes a revolution which instantly locks the parts together In uncoupling, either sleeve is rotated in a similar manner, and the action of the inclined edges 34 on the cam-block throws `the sleeve forward and causes the detent 39 on the plate 23 to lock or engage with the detent 42 on the ring, where it remains until the coupling-heads are drawn apart, when the sleeve which has been set drops or turns slightly until ch ecked by the segmental lugs 29, when it is in position for coupling without resetting. Either sleeve may be set in this manner with the same result. The guides and guide-seats 30 and 3l insure a perfect register of the meeting ends of the coupling-heads, and the arrangement of the channels or passages one above the other renders it unnecessary that the train-hand effecting the coupling should pay any attention to the proper union of the parts.

In place of the ball-andsocket joint by which the coupling-head is connected with thebracket supporting it I mayuse the gimbal-joint shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, in which the numeral 52 denotes the drop-bracket,

which is-provided upon each side with an' elongated slot 53, receiving lateral studs or pivots 54 upon a ring 55, which surrounds a` 57, the ends of which enter notches 58 in the top and bottom of the ring 55, and which are provided with lateral shoulders 59, similar to the cross-heads of the fork shown in Fig. 2, serve to center the ring, and the square ex treinities of the fork bear against the square rearward faces of the upper and lower pivots of the coupling-head lying in the notches or slots 57 of the ring. The fork has a spindle and adjusting-disk similar in all respects to those already described, and is actuated by a coiled spring 60 in the manner already set forth.

I make no claim in this application t0 a pipe-coupling consisting of a sleeve having recesses admitting segmental shoulders on the pipe, said sleeve being provided with a slot terminating in abayonet-recess and receiving a pin on the pipe, said sleeve having also an outer and inner i'lange with interior and eX- terior channels having forward walls cut to the same pitch.

1 I make no claim, also, to these parts when the shoulders on the pipe `are provided one with a guide-lug and the other with a seat and when a catch-lug is placed upon the face vof the sleeve between the flanges to engage a notch on the exterior flange.

" The subject-matter specified is covered by an application tiled by me the 4th day of May, 1889, Serial No. 309,650.

I make no claim in this application to the subject-matter shown and claimed in an application filed by me upon the 21st day of August, 1889, Serial No. 32l,493,which covers all ,the devices shown and described herein,with

head.

In a couplingfor the steam and other pipes for railway-cars, the combinationvith a suitabley bracket or support, of a coupling-head connected thereto by a universal joint and provided with separate interior channels for the steam, air, or other medium, said channels being arranged one above the other at the forward end of `the coupling-head and separated by horizontal partitions, and at the rearward end opening at the'top and bottom and at the two sides of the couplin g-head, substantially as described. y

3 In testimonywhereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' ROBERT I. HAMPTON.

' Witnesses:

-C. G. TALMADGE, E. BANcRorT, Jr.

IOO 

